John Mayall, the
lion of the blues, keeps rocking away in Rome.
In Rome for his “80th
Anniversary Tour”, the great British bluesman John Mayall shows no sign of
slowing down.
The historic
“father of the British Blues”, 80 year-old John Mayall, performed to a sold-out
crowd in Rome. Mayall needs no
introduction to his stellar career that began way back in 1956 when he formed
the group “Powerhouse Four”.
Unquestionably, his
most famous band has been the “Bluesbreakers”, his very own “University of the
Blues, which he founded in London in 1963 after a brief spell with the “Blues
Syndicate”. Mayall’s new band
eventually went on to record some 45 albums.
Some of the fine
musicians that rubbed shoulders in the early years with Mayall were Jack Bruce
(of “Cream” fame), Mick Fleetwood, Duster Bennett, John McVie, Aysnley Dunbar
and Peter Green.
But perhaps the two
most famous musicians that had the honor of playing with Mayall were Eric
Clapton and a young Mick Taylor (Taylor was 16 when he showed up at a
“Bluesbreakers’s show. A guitar on stage
was without its owner that night. It
belonged to Clapton. Young Taylor asked
John if he could play. Mayall said ok,
perhaps somewhat skeptical though of the very young guitarist, who went to play
with his band at age 17. Taylor’s also
been considered by Mayall as one of the best slide-guitarists of the business).
Legend has it that
it was John who recommended the young Taylor to a certain Sir Mick Jagger just
after Brian Jones had died. And history
was in the making, as the young Taylor would leave his “mentor” Mayall to go play
with the world’s “greatest rock and roll band” from 1969-74.
Mayall was joined
on stage in Rome for his classic “jam session blues” concert, a mix of
traditional Afro-American rhythms and jazz, by an outstanding back-up band made
up of: Rocky Athas on guitar, Greg Rzab on bass and Jay Davenport on
drums. Mayall’s repertoire also included
songs from his recent albums, “Tough” and “Live in London”.
